1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring bobbins for a plurality of spinning machines, such as ring spinning frames, ring twisting frames or the like, and more particularly to an apparatus which is capable of transferring doffed full bobbins from the spinning machines to a subsequent station, such as a winding station or the like, and feeding empty bobbins to the spinning machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a thread manufactured by a spinning machine, particularly a ring spinning frame, is subjected by a winder to a winding-back to form a package having a size and shape suitable for subsequent processings. In that case, from a viewpoint of saving labor and improving output, there have been several fine spinning winders proposed in which the spinning machine and the winder are directly coupled with a bobbin transfer path so that a tubular threads or full bobbins doffed by the spinning machine are fed to the winder while the empty bobbins which have been processed by the winder are transferred to the transfer path respectively.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laidopen Publication No. 60-52,475 discloses one arrangement of fine spinning winders which, as illustrated in FIG. 23, includes a plurality of juxtaposed winders 81 and spinning machines 82 with a main closed loop transfer path 83 on their one side, such that the winders 81 and the spinning machine 82 are each interconnected to the main transfer path 83 via sorters 84, 85 and transfer paths 86a, 86b, 87a, 87b. In this case, the full bobbins doffed from each spinning machine 82 are transferred through the transfer path 87b and the main transfer path 83 so as to be fed to the winder 81 through the sorter 84 and the transfer path 86a. Furthermore, after the thread has been wound back by the winder 81, the empty bobbins are transferred through the transfer path 86b and the main transfer path 83 and are fed back to each spinning machine 82 through the sorter 85 and the transfer path 87a. However, such an arrangement is disadvantageous in that, since the bobbin transfer paths are disposed on the floor surface, there have been substantial inconveniences or difficulties for operators to find a path for walking through or getting access to machineries, or for automatic vehicles to find a running path therethrough.
Another type of arrangement is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 62-180,881 which, as illustrated in FIG. 24, includes a full bobbin transfer line 88 arranged above one end of the spinning machine 82 for transferring doffed full bobbins F to the winder station, and an empty bobbin transfer line 89 for transferring empty bobbins E to the fine spinning station after the winding process. These bobbin transfer lines 88, 89 are suspended from the ceiling in upper and lower stages and coupled with each fine spinning machine by means of a movable vertical conveyer 90 to feed full bobbins F doffed by the spinning machine into a full bobbin transfer line 88 and the empty bobbins E on the empty bobbin transfer line 89 to the spinning machine 82.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 25, in the case of a conventional vertical conveyer, the conveyer frame 94 should have a lower curved portion 94a with a sufficiently large radius R of curvature in order to avoid interference of the full bobbins F with each other, and this often results in difficulties in realizing a compact arrangement. In order to eliminate such a drawback, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 62-180,882 discloses a bobbin transfer apparatus which includes, as shown in FIG. 26, an endless transmission belt 91 extending along a desired path through belt guides and guide pulleys, and a pair of guides 93 are arranged along the transmission belt 91 and maintained in sliding contact with the upper surface of a peg tray 92 so that, with the peg tray resiliently pinched by the transmission belt 91 and the guides 93, the peg tray 92 is moved together with the transmission belt 91. In this case, the guides 93 can be disposed in a twisted manner relative to the transmission belt 91, so that it is possible to alter the posture of empty bobbins E or full bobbins F fitted to the peg 92a, and to thereby realize a compact arrangement without particular difficulties.
However, even by combining the teachings of the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication Nos. 62-180,881 and 62-180,882, the vertical conveyer 90 has to be stopped at predetermined positions corresponding to the bobbin transfer paths on both right and left sides of each spinning machine 82, in order to feed empty bobbins E from the empty bobbin transfer line 89 to the spinning machine 82. This means that a considerable time is required to completely deliver full bobbins F and feed empty bobbins E between the spinning machine and the transfer lines 88, 89, and it is thus difficult to improve the productivity. Furthermore, although it may be feasible to suspend from the ceiling a transfer path for coupling the winder station and the fine spinning machines via individual vertical conveyer on both right and left end portions of each spinning machine, provision of independent vertical conveyers for each spinning machine would result in a higher installment cost.
In order to eliminate or at least mitigate the above-mentioned problems of the conventional arrangement, the inventors already made a proposal in non-prepublished Japanese Patent Application No. 63-152,662 regarding an improved bobbin transfer apparatus which will be briefly explained below with reference to FIGS. 27 to 29.
More particularly, the bobbin transfer apparatus according to the inventor's earlier proposal is for a plurality of spinning machines 1 arranged in a juxtaposed relationship, each provided on both right and left sides with transfer devices 2a, 2b extending in the longitudinal direction of the base of the spinning machine 1, for transferring empty bobbins E and full bobbins F using peg trays 3 each having a peg on the upper surface. A full bobbin transfer conveyer 7 leading to the winder station and an empty bobbin transfer conveyer 8 are suspended from the ceiling above the end portion of the transfer devices 2a, 2b of each spinning machine, so as to intersect at a substantially right angle with the longitudinal direction of the base of the spinning machine. The apparatus is further provided with a bobbin transfer device 9 for receiving and delivering the bobbins E, F between each transfer device 2a, 2b and both transfer conveyers 7, 8, at the end portion of the base of each spinning machine. The bobbin transfer device 9 includes an endless belt 10 wound about and extending through a drive pulley 11 and a plurality of guide pulleys 12, and linear guide members 16, 17 disposed along and cooperating with the belt 10 for resiliently engaging with each peg tray 3 by pinching the peg of each peg tray 3. The belt 10 is movable along a path extending through a position corresponding to the end portion of each transfer device 2a, 2b, a position along the full bobbin transfer conveyer 7, and a position along the empty bobbin transfer conveyer 8.
As shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, one feature of the bobbin transfer apparatus according to the abovementioned proposal resides in that, at the positions corresponding to the end portion of the guide members 16, 17, the full bobbin transfer conveyer 7 and the empty bobbin transfer conveyer 8 are provided with a full bobbin introducing portion and an empty bobbin delivery portion, respectively, while a limit member is provided at the delivery positive to limit the running direction of the peg tray 3. The limit member is movable between an operating position in which the limit member is brought into engagement with the peg tray, and a waiting position in which the limit member is prohibited from engagement with the peg tray.
However, in case of the above-mentioned arrangement, it is sometimes difficult to reduce the installment cost since the bobbin transfer device 9 has to be provided for each spinning machine 1. Furthermore, more, the transfer devices 2a, 2b on both sides of the spinning machine 1 are coupled to each other on the side of a gear end GE of the machine 1 with a coupling rail 6, and the peg trays 3 are fed into one transfer device 2a from the side of the other transfer device 2b. This means that, during doffing of the spinning machine in which full bobbins F and empty bobbins E are exchanged with a tube exchange unit, the bobbins on the coupling rail 6 are not exchanged and are thus useless.
Another feature of the bobbin transfer apparatus according to the above-mentioned proposal resides, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 29, in that both transfer conveyers 7, 8 are provided, at predetermined positions corresponding to the end portion of each spinning machine, with the full bobbin introducing portion and the empty bobbin delivery portion. In order to receive and deliver the bobbins between each transfer device 2a, 2b and both transfer conveyers 7, 8, a rail 24 is arranged on one side of each spinning machine 1 to extend in the direction intersecting at a right angle with the longitudinal direction of the spinning machine. The bobbin transfer device 9 including an endless belt 10 and linear guide members 16, 17, as mentioned above, is mounted on a vehicle body 25 which is movable along the rail 24. The bobbin transfer device 9 is provided with full bobbin delivery portion and empty bobbin introducing portion at positions corresponding to the full bobbin introducing portion and the empty bobbin delivery portion of both transfer conveyers 7 and 8.
In this case, a single bobbin transfer device 9 serves to transfer bobbins to and from a plurality of spinning machines, and the installment cost can thus be reduced. However, due to a variety of size at the gear end GE of the spinning machine, in case of the bobbin transfer device 9 intended for coupling the transfer devices 2a, 2b on both sides of the spinning machine 1 with the bobbin transfer conveyers 7, 8 suspended from the ceiling, when the bobbin transfer device 9 is to be coupled with existing spinning machines, the manner of coupling the bobbin transfer device 9 to both transfer devices 2a, 2b is not always the same, and they must be aligned with each other at the site on a case-by-case basis, thereby accompanying troublesome work and increased cost.